Technology Chess

IT security has a task ultimately similar to four-dimensional chess. You’ve got regular old 2D chess, with black pieces, white pieces, and a board. Then you’ve got three-dimensional chess, which is like something you’d see on Star Trek— the board is redistributed across three separate planes. Well, four-dimensional chess would take human nature into the picture as well, and this is what tech support must do.

At a basic 2D level, tech security is about ensuring proper installation, maintenance, and security upgrades. At the 3D level, information technology security must proactively monitor operations while additionally introducing new security measures as they become available. At the 4D level, the human element must be calculated for. Internal cyber security threats will be greater than exterior ones, and strategists playing 4D IT chess understand this well enough to help educate their clients pertaining to habits which are allowable, and those which are not.

Three primary things which undermine a system from the inside can be curtailed by content filtering and demonstrate why allowing employees unrestricted access to your system is a bad idea. These are:

• Loss of security through improper or ignored security protocols
• Liability transgressions which threaten IT business as well as clients
• Productivity declination due to improper Internet usage

Security

IT security can put up all the antivirus programs and proactively monitored cutting-edge firewalls they like, but if your employees are clicking on pop-up ads, downloading media players, and opening spurious emails, it’s likely your business will experience a security breach. Additionally, poorly-designed passwords are like a bull’s eye for hackers. All they have to do is run down a list of “popular” passwords and the likelihood is they’ll be able to break into a given system. The right security solution has training programs to inform employees of potential dangers and help curtail compromising activity. Additionally, certain security solutions can monitor individual employees if one or another of them is suspected of compromising the system.

Liability

If your business is in the healthcare industry, there are HIPAA regulations designed to protect patient information. Not properly securing a system can put a healthcare practice out of HIPAA compliance, which results in very large fines and could even bankrupt a company. To add insult to injury, the IT solution responsible for technology security is also held liable for a business which isn’t HIPAA compliant. Another reason the right IT group will filter content and advise businesses to closely monitor employee access is because their livelihood is additionally on the line.

Productivity

When employees have unfettered access to the Internet and can look at whatever they want whenever they want, there’s a very high likelihood they’ll do that rather than working. Especially where social media is involved, you can expect employees to regularly put their work aside in order to dink around with their digital friends. And that’s a “best case” scenario. Unconstrained web access opens up potentially disturbing possibilities.

Consultation

IT security provided through Idealstor is designed to give your business modern technological security. Updated firewalls, cutting-edge antivirus software, proactive and continuous monitoring, and consultation will help you learn how to properly filter content, design secure systems, and educate employees on bad practices. Contact us for security solutions to safeguard your business.